Chapter 2

By the time I dragged myself to the bus stop, I was soaked to the bone. People passing by stared at me like I was crazy.

And maybe I was. Even now, my mind was playing a loop of every sweet thing River had ever done for me.

I had known my mother was an Alpha's mistress since I was a child.

She had an affair with the Alpha of the Moonclaw Pack, hoping to use her pregnancy to climb the ranks. But the Luna found out.

Eventually, the Luna had her hunted down and killed.

I grew up in the Moonclaw Pack. Because of my half-human blood and my mother's reputation, the Alpha and Luna never looked at me with anything but disgust. I was a living reminder of betrayal and infidelity.

In the pack, my status was lower than even the lowest Omega.

The adult wolves would whisper and point behind my back, saying the daughter of a mistress deserved to die a horrible death.

But the younger wolves were far more brutal. They would wait for me at the training grounds to throw rocks at me, calling me a bastard.

Sometimes, when no one was around, they would hunt me like prey.

"The daughter of a mistress will definitely grow up to be a whore," they would sneer.

"Look at her trying to seduce everyone. She's even dirtier than her mother."

I knew my mother was guilty, and I knew I carried her shame. So I never fought back. I let them use me as a punching bag.

This went on for years, until the Alpha and Luna were forced to send me to the Pack Academy.

It was a law decreed by the Alpha King.

Every pack had to educate its youth. Every child of an Alpha had to attend the academy after turning eighteen.

Even though Alpha Richard refused to acknowledge me, he didn't dare lie to the Alpha King.

And that was where I met River—the son of the Sunward Pack's Alpha, and my fated mate.

"Who says the daughter of a mistress has to become one?"

At school, River stood in front of me, his gaze sweeping coldly over the crowd of bullies. When his eyes landed on the lead Beta, the boy took a step back in fear.

"She is my fated mate," River’s voice was quiet, but it echoed clearly across the yard. "Anyone who touches her touches the future Luna of the Sunward Pack."

Silence fell over the crowd.

The Beta's son turned pale, his lips trembling, but he didn't dare utter a single word.

From that day on, the bullying stopped.

I didn't really understand what a fated mate was. To be honest, as a half-human, I never thought it applied to me.

Even if it did, I expected him to reject me instantly.

But River didn’t. He brought me under his wing.

I genuinely believed it was love.

My life slowly got back on track. River pursued me relentlessly.

He held the umbrella for me in the rain and shaded me from the sun.

Every day after training, he would quietly walk me back to my room.

Once, at the pack cafeteria, I saw a few wolves maliciously pouring leftover soup onto my seat.

River didn't argue. He walked over, picked up the tray of dirty soup, and slammed it down in front of the bully.

His face was calm, but the bully's hands were already shaking.

"Eat it," River said, his tone as casual as if he were talking about the weather.

The bully ate it.

After that, nobody ever messed with my seat again.

I thought that was tenderness. I thought it was devotion, a man protecting his woman. I didn't realize that in the werewolf world, an Alpha heir’s urge to protect his fated mate is just a biological instinct, as uncontrollable as the moon pulling the tides.

Before meeting him, I never planned to fall in love. My mother's tragic fate had left deep scars on my heart.

But he had been like a beam of light, slowly chasing away all my shadows until they vanished.

Standing in the freezing, pouring rain, I couldn't understand.

How could someone who was once so good to me turn into this monster?

Suddenly, my vision went black, and I collapsed onto the wet pavement.